MICEX, RTS partially closed Friday

Moscow, Oct 10 (RIA Novosti) Russian bourses Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange ( MICEX) and Russian Trading System (RTS) were partially closed Friday on instructions from the financial markets’ regulator.Prior to their usual 10.30 a.m. Moscow time (0630 GMT) opening, both exchanges said they would remain closed and were awaiting further instructions, although an RTS spokesman said it would allow trading in repo contracts and bond repurchases.

There was no immediate official word on when the two bourses will resume trading.

“Trading is expected to resume after the State Duma adopts a package of anti-crisis measures,” said Alexei Serov, acting chief analyst at the Financial Bridge asset management company.

The Dow Jones index plummeted Thursday below 9,000 points for the first time since 2003, and the Standard and Poors (S and P) index dropped 7.6 percent to 909.92 points despite the move by central banks around the globe to cut interest rates.

European stock exchange indexes fell 1.2-2.5 percent Thursday and the Asian stock markets have been sinking Friday on the back of the US falls.

US President George W. Bush is expected to address the nation later Friday. According to the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, Bush plans to assure Americans that his administration will do its best to overcome the crisis.

The British FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX index plunged by more than 10 percent Friday and the French CAC index lost 9.77 percent.